Speaking Of Everything…

Obama and the Birth of the Cool.

Obama held the hearts, minds and souls of hundreds of thousands in the palm of his hand during his speech this afternoon. While most were waiting for soaring rhetoric, Obama spoke of humility and strength.  He spoke of inclusion and spirit. He “brought it” without reaching for eloquence, yet uttered phrases that will one day be chiseled in granite and preserved in bronze.

“For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.”

“We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals…”

“This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

Yet, with hundreds of thousands (probably lots more!) crowding the mall in witness, he didn’t go for the rally atmosphere. There were no chanting lines, no call and response, no brags, just facts. He could have turned this occasion into a mass spectacle for the gathered crowd was ready. Conservatives will long fulminate about the disrespect showed the soon to be former President and Vice-President (Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye!) but Obama gave them nothing to throw back at him in visual terms.

Without ruffles and flourishes, he just made history.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Check it out!

A new politics in Washington…

“What the cynics fail to understand, is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.”

–Barack Obama

Amazing! Simply Amazing!

To quote the late Tim Russert, “What a country!”

This is for Real.

Tomorrow morning I’ll wake up and know that Barack Obama will be President before nightfall.

I still find this to be freaking amazing. A new President and so far I haven’t been reciting the last line from “We Won’t Get Fooled Again!”

Tomorrow at noon.

I have nothing of note to utter except the Dream moves closer to reality.

Change HAS Come!

Amazing. America, reborn.

Happy birthday to my big sis, Charlene!

This is truly an historic night… people are dancing in the streets of DC. My son sent me a text message informing me of his amazement at the sight of people partying in front of the Whitehouse. Hell, there is a party going on outside my house on 13th St., NW! Car loads of people are cruising down the street with people shouting and chanting, horns blaring! White kids are dancing in the rain; celebrating the day the USA lived up to its own PR.

40 years ago, Washington burned in the wake of the murder of Dr. King, and 14th and U Streets, NW was the epicenter of the destruction. Tonight, that intersection is pulsing with a euphoric vibe as whites, blacks, latinos, aw hell, EVERYBODY is dancing in the middle of the intersection. Amazing.

There will surely be a lot of analysis of President-Elect Obama’s acceptance speech for it was epic. I was amazed at his remarkable restraint; he had that crowd in the palm of his hand and then let them go with a blessing.

Ain’t gonna give “Nuremburg” fodder to the remnants of the GOP.

Sarah Palin’s crew was terribly disrespectful to John McCain. The senator’s concession speech was gracious and patriotic… but you could hear the crickets in the evening air, (between the boos and hisses whenever the Senator referred to the President-elect) chirping over some really well-crafted  and nicely delivered lines by Senator McCain, pledging his support for the President-elect.

Congratulations to America, maybe we’ve finally grown up!

Sorry, Bear.

No time for cogent analysis these days. Hence, the rant posted below.

“I have no mouth, and I must scream.”

–Harlan Ellison

Been away for a while… yet there are scoundrels and scalawags afoot!

Grad School is a Pure D. Beeyatch! Just finished two midterms, have two research papers due, trying to get that last student loan to go through, (can’t register for next semester until I give ‘em the whole 15 grand!), YIKES!

Full disclosure:

I’m having a BLAST!

Crazy couple of weeks since Senator McCain showed some of his old persona by standing up for Barack Obama at a rally. When told by a supporter that she was scared of Obama because, “He’s an Arab!” McCain responded, “No, he is a good, decent man…” or something to that effect.

Colin Powell said that was a good answer, but not the right answer. According to Powell, (What up, frat?), the right answer would have been, “So what if he is an Arab?”

That being said, a round of applause to the Police department of Pittsburgh, PA. Unlike the Boston cops in the case of Charles Stuart (a looong time ago!) the Pittsburgh police did not react to the Ashley Todd claims of a racial attack by an Obama supporting mugger; big and black, who assaulted her, robbed her, fondled her and then carved a “B” in her cheek.

“Just the facts, ma’am,” said Pittsburgh PD. After further interviews with Ms. Todd, the police said, “You have the right to remain silent…”

Yep, she made it up.

I am not gonna trash the young woman, (God knows there has been enough of that!), for there is obviously something terribly wrong going on inside of her. I really hope she gets the help she’s crying for so desperately.

However. Some folks really decided to make some hay out of this situation.

Check out this blog posting by John Moody, Executive Vice-President of Fox News:

“If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator  Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.”

Well, John. It isn’t true. How long before you tell Sean Hannity to shut the hell up? Hannity sounds like a parrot;

“Ayres, Wright, Socialist! Aaaaarargh, wheee(whistle)whew!”

Can’t win on the issues? Then use culture wars to divide the country in half; manufacture some crisis to scare the hell out of the people, suppress some votes and voila! The “SAFE” candidate wins. Who is the safe candidate? The one who isn’t a socialistic, madrassa educated, wealth spreading, fake birth certificate packin’, domestic terrorist pally and disciple of a racist anti-white, anti-america preacher!

Too much ranting for one night. Back to the books.

Saving grace, perhaps?

This afternoon Sen. McCain addressed a rally in Minnesota and, evidently, the scary tenor of the crowds attending his events finally got to him. A woman, quivering with emotion, said she was scared of Obama because he was an “Arab!”

McCain gently told her she was mistaken and defended Sen. Obama’s character. He also told the crowd that they didn’t have to be scared by the prospect of a President Obama. He then brightened and asserted he would be a much better president than Obama, and that’s why he was running so hard.

Thank you, Senator John S. McCain.

Bad Moon Rising

In the aftermath of Tuesday night’s Presidential Debate, I thought the campaign was going to get really nasty as it appeared Senator McCain hadn’t scored a tremendous victory.

I don’t want to be snide, but wasn’t the Town Hall style forum supposed to be his sweet spot? To be fair, it wasn’t much a forum for there was no free flowing discussion to be heard. Senator Obama displayed grace and balance as he deftly navigated a “Fence Walk” – determined to give no ammunition to his opponent. Anyone tuning in for scintillating debate surely tuned out in disappointment. 

Senator McCain was supposed to nail this one and halt his slide in the polls as it becomes more evident the financial crisis is full on and the fundamentals of the economy are not strong. In times like these, times of crisis, the incumbent party usually gets the heave ho. Not good for the GOP.

Over the last 30 years the GOP has developed a scorched-earth style of campaigning that has devastated the political process. When they couldn’t defeat Bill Clinton at the polls or outmaneuver him on legislation, they impeached on grounds of lying about his marital infidelity; effectively neutering his influence on the 2000 election.

You know the history of the last two presidential elections and if you don’t, go look it up… and make sure to get info and opinions from all sides. You will find the GOP gets down and dirty when the time comes to win… just ask Senator McCain. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have voted for him against Al Gore in 2000, but I was a fan. When Kerry allowed the notion of McCain as a running mate to be floated in 2004, I would have been cool with that. But this isn’t the same John McCain that I respected and admired in the old days.

Today, the same guys who smeared McCain in South Carolina back in 2000 are running his campaign and they have no important issue with which to win. So where do we go from here?

A writer with The Guardian sees a stark tone setting in on the McCain campaign that appears to have Senator McCain’s tacit approval. The title of his post? “Now it Gets Nasty” 

The crowds attending these events seem to be catching onto the vibe.

Something is in the air, and it doesn’t bode well.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/oliverburkemanblog/2008/oct/07/uselections2008.johnmccain